A Bill to provide for regulation, operation and planning of major ports in India and to vest the administration, control and management of such ports to the Boards of Major Port Authorities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Sailing towards success
Indian coastline of ~7,517 km is strategically located on the world’s shipping routes. Around 70% of India's trading by value is done through maritime transport. The government has also introduced various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to enterprises that develop, maintain and operate ports, inland waterways, and inland ports shipbuilding in India.
With a vision to reduce logistics cost for EXIM and domestic trade with minimal infrastructure investment Government has launched the Flagship programme for Indian maritime sector, namely Sagarmala programme with following components:
1. Port Modernization & New Port Development
2. Port Connectivity Enhancement
3. Port-linked Industrialization
4. Coastal Community Development
Key impacts of the Sagarmala programme are:
- USD 61.6 bn Infrastructure investment mobilization
- Double the share of waterways of inland and coastal in modal mix from current 6%
- USD 5.3 bn – 6.1 bn, logistics cost saving per annum
- USD 110 bn, boost to exports
- 4 mn new direct jobs and 6 mn indirect jobs.
- 415 projects with an investment of USD 123 bn and 6 new ports identified under Sagarmala
100% FDI allowed under both government and automatic route.
for more details refer FDI Policy 2017
HIGHLIGHTS
- Cargo traffic doubled to 1 bn tonnes p.a. over the decade 2005 - 2015
- 16th largest maritime country in the world
- Seaborne trade in India has grown at twice the global growth rate of 3.3%
Industry Scenario
Cargo traffic on the rise
India has 12 major and 200 non-major/intermediate ports (under state government administration. Mudra is the largest private port in India. Cargo traffic in the country stood at 1072.23 MT in 2015-16 and is expected to rise to 2500 MT by 2024-25.
The country’s major ports handled a combined traffic volume of 647.4 mn tonnes during 2016-17, registering an annual growth rate of 6.8%, as against a growth of 4.3% in FY 2015-16.
- Cargo traffic handled by India’s major ports increased 5.5% y-o-y to 113.6 mn tonnes (MT) during April-May 2017
- 118 maritime projects (USD 7.7 bn investment) have been approved in the last four years
- Highest ever capacity addition of 100.4 MMTPA to major ports recorded in 2016-17
Growth Drivers
- Total cargo traffic (Apr-Dec 2016)
837 MT
- Cargo traffic growth
4.6%
- Indian fleet strength (no. of vessels)
1301
- Capacity addition (2016-17)
100.4 MT
Key policies
Industry Trends

FDI Facts
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FDI inflows (in USD) during April 2000 - December 2017
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Growth in FDI during 2014-17 vis-a-vis 2011-14
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FDI allowed in port and harbor's construction and maintenance
Recent Investments
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May 2017 - DP World Pvt. Ltd,world’s fourth biggest container port operator, plans to invest over USD 1 bn in India, which will be used for augmenting its port-related operations. has received up to USD 220 mn in FDI in the last two years.
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March 2016 - NCY Equity Growth and Niche Investments Holding Pvt Ltd have invested up to USD 441 mn in Indian company Sterling Port Ltd.
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August 2015 - PSA International of Singapore started building the country’s largest container terminal at JNPT terminal. The project is valued at USD 1.2 bn and is going to be developed in two phases, each phase adding 2.4 mn TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent unit). The first phase is targeted to be completed in 2018.